"Is the
purpose of geography to make war?" This is the question coming from the exhibition
at Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, curated by Massimo Rossi and held in Palazzo Bomben, Treviso (Italy). The exhibition will be open from Sunday November 6 2016 to Sunday February 19 2017. Through
three closely linked layouts that remain in constant dialogue, maps, atlases
and works of art speak of the great communicative and persuasive force of
geographic maps. Maps are a
powerful means of non-verbal communication and the scenario of the celebrations
of the Great War offers a valid opportunity for investigating their ability to
condition public opinion when they back the point of view of the Major Nations.
This is why the layout of the exhibition focuses on the historical period
between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth
century, but which actually spans from ancient times all the way to modern day,
to tell the story of another possible geography and not necessarily based on
military logics.

1918 - Italian positions along the river Piave

The
exhibition begins with "Rocks and water", where we see how maps use a simple and
preemptory sign - the natural border - to turn mountains and rivers into tools
that are able to separate and offer physical shape to ethnic, linguistic
groups, nations to transform them into the “geographical expression” of states.
The second section, "Human signs", recounts the use of geographical knowledge for
propagandist purposes to forcibly convey the idea of nation even before its
official political proclamation. The third part, "War maps", highlights
the co-existence of two seemingly irreconcilable cultural approaches, in the
context of the First World War: graphic symbols representing the vast war
industry disseminated on the Piave front, along with signs that bear witness to
the presence of thousands of homing pigeons that by flying at more than one
hundred meters of altitude and travelling great distances in short amounts of
time, inform and send orders. 305 mm mortars that discharge projectiles
weighing 400 kg and as big as a man, and tethered balloons suspended hundreds
of metres above the ground «swaying in the sky in a long line along the Piave»
as described by writer-tenant Fritz Weber, the enemy on the opposite bank.

A picture of the exhibition

At the
exhibition visitors can appreciate how the maps provide order in an otherwise
chaotic world, making it more understandable and familiar, distinguishing the
objects, but most of all naming the places allowing us to recognise every
single one of them. In every era, as quintessential social and human products,
maps have also told the story of places through toponyms, sometimes playing an
aggressive power over them. Especially when they alter the original spelling of
centuries-old names or replace them altogether with new ones to make them more
akin to the most recent dominators: the Dutch Niew Amsterdam becomes the
English New York; the German Karfreit turns into the Italian Caporetto to then
become the Slovenian Kobarid; the Hapsburg Sterzing becomes the Romanised
Vipiteno. Or yet, to fulfil impellent social urgencies and to give a voice to
hitherto unexpressed territorial hopes: “Alto Adige”, “Venezia Tridentina”,
“Venezia Giulia”, or simply, in the case of a river, by changing its gender.

The
century-old Piave of the log drivers changed gender in 1918 to offer greater
virile resistance to the Austrian invasion, becoming “Il Piave” (male gender),
to reassure the collective imagination of the young Italian nation.

But is it
actually true that the purpose of geography is to make war? Certainly, without
geography wars would not even be conceivable, but man has always been the one
to make war, and is willing to use all the available knowledge of physics,
chemistry, geometry or mathematics to achieve his objectives.

NASA Blue Marble from Apollo 17 (December 1972)

This
exhibition also looks into another possible geography, a geography that urges
us to reflect and act on the world when we try to observe it from above when
leafing through the pages of the renaissance atlas of Abramo Ortelio, or
pondering The Blue Marble, the first photograph of planet Earth taken from the
lens of the astronauts of Apollo 17. A geography that multiplies its potential
every time an artist decides to partake in a dialogue with a geographic map -
and the exhibition displays geographic rugs and a number of works by
contemporary artists.

But most of
all it offers the opportunity to consider another geography, that is able to
teach us to know places through an uninterrupted dialogue with the historical
processes and to persuade us through the example of two authoritative pieces of
evidence dating back by a century, geographer Cesare Battisti and historian
Gaetano Salvemini, that «there are no natural political borders, because all
political borders are artificial, meaning that they are created by the
conscience and will of man».

Finally a few words about the set-up
created by Fabrica: it is an experiential journey, on the discovery of the various
geographical maps and the places that inspired them, through the creation of
areas that urge visitors to follow them and interact with them. Elements with a
linear and clean design, minimalist to focus solely on the works on display,
combined with a graphic design that reinterprets the elements of traditional
cartography in a modern style.

The entire
design of the exhibition - set-up and communication - is combined with the
spaces of Palazzo Bomben, rich in frescoes and history, in a dialogue of mutual
accentuation.

The event,
funded by the Regional Government of Veneto, is part of the programme commemorating the centenary of the
Great War.

Info:

La geografia serve a fare la guerra? ("Is the
purpose of geography to make war?")Representation of human beings

ACROSS THE RIVER

Dear Visitor,

welcome to World War I Bridges, the Italy-based radar of First World War legacy and initiatives in the pipeline for the Centenary. Our interests are in the "units" here below and military equipment is not on the top of our minds. You can surf this site also starting from these "units".

Why Bridges? The armies used to explode the bridges in war operations. We now try to build new bridges during the WWI Centenary from Maserada sul Piave, a small Italian village along the Piave River.

Terms and conditions

All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.As for our suggested itineraries, though every possible effort to provide accurate information on this site, you are solely responsible for interpreting and using this information to organize your trip and excursion and to evaluate all potential hazards according to your own capacities and risks inherent to the different natural environments.

World War I in Maserada sul Piave

Maserada sul Piave is a small town in the North-East of Italy (Venice area), located in the middle course of the river Piave. After the notorious rout of Caporetto (October 1917), the river Piave became the Italian extreme defensive front. This location and the river Piave are particularly interesting in the scenario of the three main battles of the last year of the Great War: the First Piave Battle (November 1917), the Battle of the Solstice (known as Battle of Middle June 1918) and the final Battle of Vittorio Veneto, that led to the Armistice between Italy and Central Powers. In this locations, the British and the Italian armies faced together the Austro-Hungarians. The British Army was stationed here and that's why our village is an example of a location shared by two national armies cooperating in war operations. The museum located in the village is aiming to become a reference point in Italy for the history of a foreign contingent, namely what we know as the British Campaign in Italy 1917-1918. Since 2008 it has been building local and international partnerships in order also to create events and organize battlefield tours in this area.

Can you build a WWI Bridge with us?

If you're a Great War enthusiast; if you think of having something interesting to point out; if you think that the memory of the Great War should grow around a network of people constantly sharing views on this; if you think that war was not and is not only a matter of weapons; if you stop a second when you read the words "First" and "World"; if you sometimes think that the Great War centenary is getting closer; if you quiver every time you watch Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory; if you strongly believe that the real challange is to find new strategies to tell the story of this war to the digital natives. Briefly, if you discover yourself twanging like a chord every time you get close to this topic and if you wish to throw new bridges around First World War knowledge, we would be more than happy to listen to your suggestions, comments and opinions.

Please take a look also to the web site of the friends of the Maserada World War I Museum and write your emails to this address. You may also follow us on Twitter.Thank you for connecting though WWI Bridges!